Influence of PTSD and MDD on somatic symptoms in treatment-seeking military members and Veterans

Abstract

Introduction: Using a treatment-seeking sample of military personnel and Veterans ( n = 736), the objectives were to determine the prevalence of somatic symptoms in the sample and investigate whether the mean severity of somatic symptoms differed between common probable psychiatric conditions and comorbidity. Methods: The Patient Health Questionnaire–15 was used to determine somatic symptom severity. One-way analyses of variance and Tukey post hoc tests determined whether the severity of somatic symptom categories (musculoskeletal pain, neurological, cardiovascular, gastrointestinal, sleep, and lethargy) and total somatic symptom severity differed significantly between groups. Results: Most participants (80%) reported moderate to high levels of somatic symptoms, and more than half the sample had probable comorbid post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and major depressive disorder (MDD). Mean total somatic symptom severity for the comorbid PTSD–MDD group was high and differed significantly from that of the PTSD- and MDD-only groups (medium severity) and the group with neither condition (mild severity). Severity of most mean somatic symptom categories differed significantly between comorbid PTSD and MDD for all other groups. Discussion: Results suggest that the presentation of comorbid PTSD and MDD is more detrimental in terms of somatic symptom severity than that of either disorder separately. Although there were some differences in the severity of specific somatic symptom types between the PTSD-only and the MDD-only groups, overall severity did not differ. After diagnosis of a mental health condition, military personnel and Veterans should be screened for somatic symptoms.